Coastal residents still aren't ready for hurricanes, poll finds

May 30, 2008|By Ken Kaye, South Florida Sun-sentinel

MIAMI -- With the tropics already starting to percolate -- as evidenced by Tropical Storm Alma, which moved over Central America on Thursday -- far too many residents along the U.S. coast are ill-prepared to face a hurricane, a major poll shows.

Specifically, 56 percent of residents from Texas to Maine have no family plan, 67 percent have no survival kit and 85 percent have not bolstered their homes, according to a new Mason-Dixon poll.

With the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season officially starting Sunday, the results troubled local, state and federal officials, who gathered at the National Hurricane Center in Miami-Dade County on Thursday to implore residents to make early preparations.

"It gives us some idea of the challenges we still face," said Bill Read, the center director.

Read said he wasn't surprised by the poll because 7 million new residents move to the U.S. coastline each year, and many have no experience with tropical storms.

Still, he said he was concerned that one in five families would not begin to prepare their home until a hurricane watch -- meaning hurricane conditions are possible within 24 to 36 hours -- was issued or that one in eight would not evacuate even if ordered to do so, according to the poll.

Gov. Charlie Crist said Florida generally is better prepared than other states because "we've had a lot of practice." Yet he too urged residents to immediately build at least a three-day stock of food, water and supplies and ensure their homes are ready for high winds.

The Mason-Dixon poll surveyed 1,100 people in Atlantic and Gulf Coast states in May.

Alma on Thursday became the first named storm of the eastern Pacific Ocean's hurricane season when it formed off Central America. The storm moved quickly inland, bringing heavy rains to Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. The Pacific hurricane season began May 15.